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66 COUNT T. SALVADORI O N M R . ELLIOT'S [Jan. 14, half of the crown rosy red, the green feathers of the upper greyish, as if they were powdered, and the under tail-coverts of a light yellow. P. miqueli has the anterior part of the crown purplish red, the feathers of the upper parts of a pure, not dusty-greyish green, and the under tail-coverts of a brighter yellow. Mr. Elliot believes that the type specimen of P. strophium is faded upon the forehead ; but he has overlooked that the figure of the same, published in Jardine's 'Contributions to Ornithology' when the bird was newly brought to London, shows the same rosy colour of the crown as it now has after twenty-eight years. The second specimen named P. strophium in the British Museum, which was bought from M. Verreaux, without any locality, has the forehead purplish red, and certainly belongs to P. miqueli. 54. PTILOPUS BELLUS. Although this species has the pectoral band yellow and white, like P. speciosus, I do not think that this is its nearest ally, but P. prasinorrhous, in which sometimes the white pectoral band is more or less tinged with light yellow. Besides that, P. speciosus, unlike any other species, instead of having the crown purple, has only two purple spots in front of the eyes, and the abdomen of a beautiful lilac. 56. PTILOPUS JOHANNIS. Certainly this bird has its nearest ally in P. speciosus, having the abdomen lilac; but, unlike any other species, it has the breast-band all yellow, and the top of the head lilac like the abdomen. 59. PTILOPUS PUELLA. 70. PTILOPUS ASSIMILIS. 71. PTILOPUS MAGNIFICUS. I must state that, notwithstanding the contrary opinion of Mr. Elliot, 1 think that these species, and a fourth lately discriminated by me, should be referred to a distinct genus from Ptilopus, i.e. to Megaloprepia, Rchb., the type of which is Columba magnifica, Temm. If Reichenbach included in the same genus Ptilopus perlatus, Temm., which certainly does not belong to it, that is not a good reason for completely discarding the genus, which, according to me, is perfectly recognizable by the rather long tail of the birds, the uni­form colour of the same, the first primary not attenuated, and the peculiar colouring of the different members. It is not by taking these characters separately, but combined as they are, that the generic value of the group appears evident. Then Mr. Elliot seriously questions if the three races mentioned should be continued as distinct species. To maintain this he begins by saying that " they only differ in size," which is not exact; and the proof of this we have from Mr. Elliot himself, who a few lines below says :-" The specimens of the smallest race, called P. puella which are found in the island of Jobie and also at Mount Epa, in the south of New Guinea, have the under surface of the tail lighter